🔗 Share this article

UK light-heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close 10-round contest at the boxing arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the techniques didn't complement each other, with excessive holding disrupting the fight.

Two judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a even score.

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.

The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to earn a 20th career victory.

Some ringside observers felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second loss of his 28-bout career.

The Champion Earns Triumph in Slow Match

The fighter's advancement has stalled in the past few years through promotional disputes and extended periods of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the future of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.

He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a calculated opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand during the bout, was making just his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to barely take the better periods.

The audience's tolerance decreased because of frequent holding, with the challenger falling to the floor several times during clinches.

The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of power puncher Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Ricky Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Contest

In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a terrific all-Manchester battle to capture the continental championship.

The stadium grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in honor of the city's native Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the last bell ended, the silence gave way to a roar of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The fighting inside the ropes equaled the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.

But the Manchester United-red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was damaged quickly, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the duo landed punishing blows.

The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over the full distance.

The victor edged the result with official scores of draw, 115-113 and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and full of heart, everything their hero the legend stood for.